diff --git a/Documentation/device-mapper/cache.txt b/Documentation/device-mapper/cache.txt
index 63fd7cfa4cf1..e6b72d355151 100644
--- a/Documentation/device-mapper/cache.txt
+++ b/Documentation/device-mapper/cache.txt
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ Status
 <cache block size> <#used cache blocks>/<#total cache blocks>
 <#read hits> <#read misses> <#write hits> <#write misses>
 <#demotions> <#promotions> <#dirty> <#features> <features>*
-<#core args> <core args>* <#policy args> <policy args>*
+<#core args> <core args>* <policy name> <#policy args> <policy args>*
 
 metadata block size	 : Fixed block size for each metadata block in
 			     sectors
@@ -250,6 +250,7 @@ feature args		 : 'writethrough' (optional)
 #core args		 : Number of core arguments (must be even)
 core args		 : Key/value pairs for tuning the core
 			     e.g. migration_threshold
+policy name		 : Name of the policy
 #policy args		 : Number of policy arguments to follow (must be even)
 policy args		 : Key/value pairs
 			     e.g. sequential_threshold
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-mq.c b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-mq.c
index e63e36cefc89..930e8c3d73e9 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-mq.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-mq.c
@@ -1276,7 +1276,8 @@ static struct dm_cache_policy_type default_policy_type = {
 	.version = {1, 2, 0},
 	.hint_size = 4,
 	.owner = THIS_MODULE,
-	.create = mq_create
+	.create = mq_create,
+	.real = &mq_policy_type
 };
 
 static int __init mq_init(void)
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.c b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.c
index d80057968407..c1a3cee99b44 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.c
@@ -146,6 +146,10 @@ const char *dm_cache_policy_get_name(struct dm_cache_policy *p)
 {
 	struct dm_cache_policy_type *t = p->private;
 
+	/* if t->real is set then an alias was used (e.g. "default") */
+	if (t->real)
+		return t->real->name;
+
 	return t->name;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(dm_cache_policy_get_name);
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.h b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.h
index 052c00a84a5c..f50fe360c546 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.h
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-cache-policy.h
@@ -222,6 +222,12 @@ struct dm_cache_policy_type {
 	char name[CACHE_POLICY_NAME_SIZE];
 	unsigned version[CACHE_POLICY_VERSION_SIZE];
 
+	/*
+	 * For use by an alias dm_cache_policy_type to point to the
+	 * real dm_cache_policy_type.
+	 */
+	struct dm_cache_policy_type *real;
+
 	/*
 	 * Policies may store a hint for each each cache block.
 	 * Currently the size of this hint must be 0 or 4 bytes but we
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-cache-target.c b/drivers/md/dm-cache-target.c
index 11ad70540d40..09334c275c79 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-cache-target.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-cache-target.c
@@ -2832,7 +2832,7 @@ static void cache_resume(struct dm_target *ti)
  * <#demotions> <#promotions> <#dirty>
  * <#features> <features>*
  * <#core args> <core args>
- * <#policy args> <policy args>*
+ * <policy name> <#policy args> <policy args>*
  */
 static void cache_status(struct dm_target *ti, status_type_t type,
 			 unsigned status_flags, char *result, unsigned maxlen)
@@ -2900,6 +2900,8 @@ static void cache_status(struct dm_target *ti, status_type_t type,
 		}
 
 		DMEMIT("2 migration_threshold %llu ", (unsigned long long) cache->migration_threshold);
+
+		DMEMIT("%s ", dm_cache_policy_get_name(cache->policy));
 		if (sz < maxlen) {
 			r = policy_emit_config_values(cache->policy, result + sz, maxlen - sz);
 			if (r)